1. Evolution of yellow flavonols in flowers of anthemideae
- Author
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Linda King, Vernon H. Heywood, and Jeffrey B. Harborne
- Subjects
chemistry.chemical_classification ,Gossypetin ,biology ,Quercetagetin ,biology.organism_classification ,Biochemistry ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Flavonols ,chemistry ,Genus ,Anthemideae ,Patuletin ,Coleostephus myconis ,Botany ,Anthemis ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics - Abstract
Yellow flavonols have been identified in flowers of Coleostephus myconis, Glossopappus macrotus, Lepidophorum repandum and Leucanthemopsis flaveola . In addition to quercetagetin, gossypetin, patuletin and quercetagetin 3′-methyl ether previously reported in other species of the tribe Anthemideae of the Compositae, spinacetin, the 6,3′-dimethyl ether of quercetagetin, has been found for the first time as a flower pigment. It occurs as the 7-glucoside in flowers of Lepidophorum repandum , the leaves of which contain patuletin 3-rhamnoside. The presence of spinacetin and the 3′-methyl ether of quercetagetin in Lepidophorum fits in with the results of recent taxonomic studies which place this genus closer to Chrysanthemum than to Anthemis . Similarly, the occurrence of quercetagetin and gossypetin in Leucanthemopsis confirms its recently proposed separation from Tanacetum . The chemical data indicate that there is an evolutionary trend in yellow flower pigmentation, with Leucanthemopsis and Chrysanthemum segetum as the two least specialized species and Lepidophorum as the most advanced.
- Published
- 1976
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